O.J. Faces a New Ball Game in His Upcoming Civil Trial Different Legal Standards, a Different Jury, Maybe a Different Verdict

Article excerpt

Outside the ocean-view courthouse here, a man pauses in front of
a small gallery of press photographers. Inside, jury selection
continues for the civil trial of O.J. Simpson in proceedings that
judge, defense, and prosecutors promise will be "very different"
from the criminal trial that consumed local and global attention
for the better part of 1995.

"I hope this trial goes smoothly, quietly, quickly," says the
Santa Monica dentist who works in this cliffside town. "I don't
want this community turned on its head again."

Between Superior Court Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki and the standards
of civil as opposed to criminal cases, the dentist will get his
wish. While Judge Fujisaki has already put his personal - and more
disciplined - stamp on the proceedings to come, the differences
will not simply be a matter of courtroom style. The civil case Mr.
Simpson now faces will be markedly different in legal terms and
could result in a different verdict.
Over media protests, Fujisaki banned cameras from the courtroom
and imposed gag orders on trial participants to prevent them from
commenting, quickly demonstrating how he will differ from his
predecessor, Superior Court Judge Lance Ito.
Despite Fujisaki's efforts, however, this trial at the Los
Angeles County Superior Court, just a mile north of Simpson's
mansion and a mile east of the condominium where Nicole Brown
Simpson and Ronald Goldman were found murdered on June 12, 1994,
will probably be as closely watched.
"In Mr. Simpson's first trial, the world got an unprecedented
opportunity to understand the American criminal justice system,"
says Myrna Raeder, chair of the American Bar Association's
Committee of Federal Rules of Procedure and Evidence.
"Now it will get a chance ... to understand civil procedures,"
she says. "The ... difference is great."
As jury selection proceeds over the next six weeks, legal
analysts are hastening to explain to press and public how civil and
criminal procedures will differ.
The greatest difference is that while the criminal justice
system is based on the premise that it's preferable to have a
guilty person go free than have an innocent person be jailed or
deprived of life, civil proceedings have no such bias. "When the
penalty is no longer a life-and-death matter, the playing field for
plaintiffs and defendants is more level," says Ms. …